Since the Middle Kingdom considered itself the geographic and cultural center of the world, China considered itself self-sufficient. Rather than relying on other civilizations to obtain goods through trade, China was interested in being recognized as superior to all other civilizations. Thus, trade in China was conducted much differently than it was in Europe. Merchants brought the Chinese gifts for which the Chinese would give their own gifts. Since merchants had to conform to Chinese conventions, the recognition of China's superiority was a natural consequence of the tributary system.
The tributary system worked fairly well until the Europeans started showing up on the coast of China. While the Vietnamese, the Koreans, and the Japanese were more than willing to give their obeisance to the Chinese, the Europeans were not. They had no experience with Chinese culture. While they were initially willing to conform to Chinese market conventions to get their hands on valuable Chinese goods, they eventually sought to impose European style trade. The Chinese resisted, but after many years, had to succumb to Western pressure. The technological advantage that the West enjoyed allowed it to open China for trade despite Chinese reluctance to Westernize.
After respecting the Chinese market conventions for many years, the English monarchy sought to arrive at a European-style trading arrangement in China. To do this, Britain sent Lord Macartney to meet with the Chinese Emperor to petition for his permission to change the market conventions governing Chinese/British trade. While they had many requests, most of these requests dealt with increasing their access to Chinese trade. They were not content with trading alongside other Europeans in the single port of Canton. They wanted access to additional ports, representation in the Imperial court, and land to store their goods.
Macartney came to the Chinese bearing lavish gifts from the British monarchy and attempting to abide by Chinese traditions. Nevertheless, his requests were completely without precedent and were all denied. Macartney's failure to reach an accommodation with the Chinese represents Britain's inability at to impose its will on the Chinese at that time. The Chinese at that time still retained a great deal of national sovereignty and the Emperor could afford to dismiss European pretentious at will.
Over time, however, the Chinese position weakened in relation to the Europeans and later the Japanese and they were no longer able to make such strong demands. China was by this time at a crossroads. It could either embrace Westernization fully or it could reject it completely. China tried to walk a middle ground however, which it could not do forever. As European and Japanese power increased, China lost the ability to dictate the market conventions which governed Chinese/European trade. In the future, China would not be able to send diplomats like Lord Macartney away.
